Do Not Cancel Your Appointment

One thing dentists around the country struggle with is canceled appointments. This isn’t just a problem for our office, it can seriously impact your oral and overall health. Here are some things to consider before canceling your upcoming appointment.

How Will This Impact My Overall Health?

Many people think that there are no real consequences to canceling a dental appointment. Many dental problems, like cavities or gum disease, have few symptoms until they become very serious, and by that time the problem can be a challenge to deal with. In addition, they can start impacting your overall health.

You might think that you do not need to go to the dentist because you do not have any symptoms. That’s the best time to get dental treatment. Treatment that happens before you show symptoms will be more minor and they are less invasive, easier on your pocketbook, and they’ll help preserve your overall oral health.

How Will This Impact My Restorations?

If you have an appointment for restorations rather than just a checkup, the consequences might be even more serious. If you are going to get treatment for a site of active decay, the tooth can continue developing decay, which may require a different approach than what was previously needed or recommended. If you have a temporary restoration, postponing care can make it more likely that the temporary may fail. Temporary restorations are typically durable for the time they’re supposed to last, but the longer you postpone your appointment, the higher the risk of failures. Failed temporary restorations like crowns can damage the tooth further and make it hard to fit your restorations as designed.

When Would I Be Able to Reschedule?

Instead of canceling an appointment outright, it’s best to just reschedule to a better time. However, you should note that it may be difficult to reschedule close to your original appointment. You may have to postpone the appointment for weeks or even months. If you’re rescheduling because you’ve just discovered a conflict, consider that your other appointment might be easier to reschedule.

Am I Concealing My Anxiety?

Part of the reason people may cancel a dental appointment is from fear of the appointment or the unknown. People rarely admit this to themselves but it is very common. There are a hundred other different excuses that can keep you from coming in for checkups and treatments. Carefully appraise your motives for canceling. Are they legitimate, or just excuses that are covering for your anxiety? If dental anxiety is truly the reason why you’re canceling appointments, we can definitely help and want to. We also offer sedation dentistry that can help overcome anxiety and get the dental care you need or want.

We Look Forward to Seeing You!

If nothing else, we don’t want you to cancel your appointment because we love all the members of our dental family at Prescott Dental Arts. And we miss every one of you when you’re not here. Six months between appointments is already too long to go between seeing our old friends. We don’t want it to be any longer!